MW:India can cut rates if commodity prices fall: RBI
By Nick Godt
NEW DELHI (MarketWatch) -- If commodity prices fall, the Reserve Bank of India has room to cut interest rates, Subir Gokarn, the central bank's deputy governor, said here on Tuesday. Gokarn was speaking at an International Monetary Conference here on how India and China can boost growth. The RBI last week kept its key lending interest rate unchanged at 8.5%, citing risks of inflation from rising crude-oil prices, pressures on the rupee, and fiscal spending. Since then, the government has announced a budget plan that would reduce India's fiscal deficit to 5.1% this year from an estimated 5.9% last year.
